Abstract
THE publication of this work is somewhat opportune, for under the reformed, if not improved, spelling of the title, our readers will no doubt recognise the district of Backergunge, which, with other districts at the mouth of the Hooghly, was recently overwhelmed by one of the most disastrous cyclone-waves on record. Mr. Beveridge is magistrate and collector of the district, and as such has had a good opportunity of becoming acquainted with it. He has evidently also read a great deal on the subject, and the result is a work which ought to take a good place as a local history. Mr. Beveridge describes the physical features of the district, its antiquities and early history, the pergunnahs and sunderbunds, treats of Government estates, land tenures, the inhabitants, productions, and manufactures. The second part refers to the several departments of the administration, education, &c. This district, from its low-lying position at the top of the Bay of Bengal, has been peculiarly subject to the inrush of the wave which accompanies cyclones. Until the recent catastrophe the great event in the history of the district was an inundation, evidently caused by a cyclone-wave, which occurred in June, 1822. According to contemporary account, 100,000 persons lost their lives, and as many cattle; but this must pale before the recent catastrophe, and henceforth October 31, 1876, will be the black-letter day in Bákarganj. Mr. Beveridge's book will be found to contain a great deal of really valuable information, and if every district in India were treated in a similar manner, we should possess a library of information of the greatest value. The volume contains a good map of the district.
The District of Bákarganj; its History and Statistics.
H.
Beveridge
By (London: Trübner and Co., 1876.)
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The District of Bákarganj; its History and Statistics . Nature 15, 135 (1876). https://doi.org/10.1038/015135a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/015135a0